Germany is about the size of Montana.
(SFC, 1/28/97, p.A8)(WSJ, 12/22/97, p.A1)
Germany's 16 lander (states) included: Bavaria, North
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Saxony, Brandenburg, Berlin (city-state).
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.T6)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.53)
390Mil BC In 2007 British
scientists reported a fossilized claw, part of an ancient sea
scorpion, that was 8-feet long, making the entire creature the
biggest bug ever. The fossil was from a Jaekelopterus Rhenaniae, a
kind of scorpion that lived only in Germany for about 10 million
years.
(AP, 11/20/07)

154Mil BC Holger Luedtke, an amateur fossil
hunter, found in 1998 the fossils of small dinosaurs in a quarry in
Germany’s Hartz mountains. They were later identified as a new
species from this time and named Europasaurus holgeri.
(SFC, 6/8/06, p.A7)

150Mil BC Upper Jurassic lithographic limestone at
Solenhofen, southern Germany, has fossils of Pterodactylus, a
pigeon-sized descendant of Podopteryx. Its wings were supported on
elongated and thickened fourth fingers. The effective area of each
wing could be controlled by the spread of the hind limbs. The body
and limbs were covered by a fine fur indicating some sort of body
heat control. A more primitive group was the Rhamphorynchoidea,
which had narrower wings and a long stiff tail. Pterosaurs were
widespread and have been found on all continents except Antarctica.
Pterodaustro scooped plankton from the water. Anurognathus ate
insects. Dimorphodon ate meat. Pteranodon caught fishes. Up to this
time insects with wingspans of more than 2 feet ruled the skies.
(TE-JB, p.62)(SFC, 6/6/12, p.A9)

47Mil BC In 2009 Scientists in New York unveiled
the skeleton of what they said could be the common ancestor to
humans, apes and other primates. The tiny creature, officially known
as Darwinius masillae, but dubbed Ida, lived about this time and was
unusually well preserved. The monkey-like creature, discovered in
1983, was preserved through the ages in Germany's Messel Pit, a
crater rich in Eocene Epoch fossils. New analysis soon followed
saying Darwinius does not belong in the same primate category as
monkeys, apes and humans. Instead, the analysis concluded, it falls
into the other major grouping, which includes lemurs.
(AFP, 5/19/09)(AP, 10/21/09)

c500000BC A human jawbone of about this age, homo
Heidelbergensis, was found in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1907.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.T9)

400000-380000BC Researchers in Germany in 1997
unearthed wooden spears made of spruce of this age from an ancient
lakeshore hunting ground. The spears were found in a coal mine in
Shöningen, near Hanover.
(SFC, 2/27/97, p.A6)(AM, May/Jun 97 p.25)

40000BC Home sapiens in Germany were making flutes
about this time.
(SFC, 6/15/12, p.A11)

38000BC A 30 cm. high figure with human legs, an
arm and the head of a lion was carved about this time in
southwestern Germany. Its fragments were discovered in 1939 and
pieced together over the next three decades.
(Econ, 2/2/13, p.71)

33000BC In 2004 archaeologists of the University
of Tuebingen said a 35,000BC-year-old flute made from a woolly
mammoth's ivory tusk had been unearthed in a German cave and pieced
together from 31 fragments. In 2009 a flute from about this same
time, made from vulture bone, was displayed. Its 12 pieces had been
found in the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany.
(AP, 12/11/04)(SFC, 6/25/09, p.A4)
33000BC Av ivory carving dating to about this time
depicted a busty woman. It was found in 2008 in a German cave and
was unveiled in 2009 by archaeologists who believed it to be the
oldest known sculpture of the human form. The carving found in six
fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave depicts a woman with a
swollen belly, wide-set thighs and large, protruding breasts.
(AP, 5/14/09)

6200BC In Germany the Adonis of Zschernitz, a male
fertility figurine dating to this time, was excavated near Leipzig
in 2003. In 2005 a female counterpart was found at the same site.
(SFC, 8/17/09, p.12)

5,500BC Hahnhofersand Man was dated in 2001 to
about this time by Oxford University’s Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit.
German Prof. Reiner Protsch von Zieten had earlier dated the fossils
to about 34,300BC. In the 1980s the Hahnhofersand fossils were said
to have both Neanderthal and human characteristics.
(Arch, 5/05, p.15)
5500BC People sweeping out from Turkey colonized
Europe, likely as a part of the agricultural revolution, reaching
Germany about 7,500 years ago.
(Live Science, 4/23/13)

5000BC In 2015 scientists reported evidence of a
massacre near Frankfurt, Germany, dating to about this time.
Skeletal remains in a mass grave of some 26 men, women and children
indicated blunt-force marks to the head, arrow wounds smashed shins.
(SFC, 8/18/15, p.A2)

4800BC-4600BC More than 150 large temples,
constructed between during this period, were unearthed in fields and
cities in Germany, Austria and Slovakia in 2002-2005. A village at
Aythra, near Leipzig in eastern Germany, was home to some 300 people
living in up to 20 large buildings around the temple.
(AP, 6/12/05)

2500BC The first signs of human habitation at
Trier date to this time.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.T8)
2500BC A study in 2015 said a wave of migrants
from the eastern fringes of Europe about this time left their trace
in the DNA — and possibly the languages — of modern Europeans. They
found that DNA associated with the Yamnaya people appeared strongly
in what is now northern Germany. The Yamnaya were herders who lived
in the steppe north of the Black and Aral Seas.
(AP, 3/3/15)

c1600BC The Nebra disk, a 12-inch bronze and gold
disk from this time, was evidence of ancient German astronomy. It
recorded images of the sun, moon and 32 stars.
(AM, 3/04, p.42)

53BC Caesar claimed to have
wiped out the Celtic Eburones after they conspired with other groups
in an attack that killed 6,000 Roman soldiers. The Eburones lived in
an area that later came be known as part of Belgium, Germany and the
Netherlands.
(AP,
11/14/08)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eburones)

c4CE Romans terraced the steep
slopes of the Mosel River for the cultivation of grapes.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.T8)

9CE Sep 9, Publius Quinctilius
Varus (59), Roman governor of Germania (6-9CE), died of likely
suicide following defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
Arminius, aka Hermann the German, had stopped a Roman advance
eastward across the Rhine at the battle of Teutoburg, setting a
limit on the Roman border.
(http://www.fact-index.com/p/pu/publius_quinctilius_varus.html)(Econ,
8/7/10, p.86)

17CE May 26, Germanicus of Rome
celebrated a victory over the Germans.
(AP, 5/26/98)

97CE Oct 27, To placate the
Praetorians of Germany, Nerva of Rome adopted Trajan, the Spanish
born governor of lower Germany.
(HN, 10/27/98)

175 Roman forces defeated
Sarmatian tribes on the Danube and Marcus Aurelius ordered them to
provide 8,000 cavalry for the Roman fort of Brocavum, later
Brougham, England. It had been built in the last decades of the
first century. The fort was partially covered by a castle in the
13th century.
(Arch, 5/05, p.62)

400-500CE St. Ursula, a legendary British
princess, and her 11,000 martyr virgins were said to have been
slaughtered by the Huns at Cologne in the 5th century.
(WUD, 1994, p.1573)(SFEC, 2/15/98, p.T8)

406 Dec 31, Godagisel, king of
the Vandals, died in battle as some 80,000 Vandals attacked over the
Rhine at Mainz.
(MC, 12/31/01)

410 Aug 24, Rome was overrun by
the Visigoths, an event that symbolized the fall of the Western
Roman Empire. German barbarians sacked Rome [see Aug 18].
(V.D.-H.K.p.87)(AP, 8/24/97)(HN, 8/24/98)

493 Mar 3, Odovacar, the
Herulian leader, surrendered Ravenna to Theodorik, king of the
Ostrogoths. Theodorik invited Odovacar to dinner and had him
murdered. Theodorik united Italy as an Ostrogoth kingdom until 554.
[see Mar 15]
(PCh, 1992, p.52)(V.D.-H.K.p.88)(SC, 3/3/02)

570CE St. Goar, a missionary
from the south of France, arrived in Germany.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5)

600 Germanic invaders, who
occupied England after 600AD, saw themselves as a nation of
immigrants, according to Prof. Nicholas Howe (1953-2006) of UC
Berkeley, author of “Migration and Mythmaking in Anglo-Saxon
England" (1989).
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.B6)

608 A Slav migration about this
time occupied land along the River Spree vacated by Germans.
Remnants of the migration came to be called Sorbs who spoke either
Lower Sorbian or Upper Sorbian.
(Econ, 6/28/08, p.59)

796CE Frankfurt, Germany. This
1200 year old city of 650,000 is the hub of Germany’s banking and
business community.
(SFC, 5/5/96, p.T-7)

c800-900 Archbishop Hatto of Mainz supposedly
hoarded grain during a time of famine and said that starving masses
were nothing more than mice. He was beleaguered by rodents and took
refuge on his island in the Rhine where legend has it that mice
devoured him.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)

870 Aug 8, The Treaty of Mersen
(Meerssen) partitioned the realm of Lothair II by his uncles Louis
the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, the
two surviving sons of Emperor Louis I the Pious.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Meerssen)

876 Oct 8, Charles the Bald was
defeated at the Battle of Andernach.
(HN, 10/8/98)

c900-1000 Harald Bluetooth, or Harald Blatand,
10th-century king of Denmark, attributed to himself the unification
of Denmark and the Christianization of the Danes. He also conquered
Norway and raided Normandy. He was later invaded and defeated by
German emperor Otto II.
(HNQ, 9/3/98)

900-1000 Alsace became part of Germany in the 10th
century.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4)
900-1000 Weimar is believed to date back to the
10th century.
(SSFC, 8/1/04, p.D10)

911 The Carolingian period of
Frankish rule ended in Germany.
(AHD, 1971, p.205)

912 Nov 23, Otto I, the Great
(d.973), German king and Holy Roman emperor (962-73), was born. Otto
the Great became King of Germany in 936.
(AHD, 1971, p.931)(MC, 11/23/01)

919 May 12, Duke Henry of Saxon
became King Henry I of Eastern Europe.
(MC, 5/12/02)

929 Eadgyth (910-946), the
sister of King Athelstan and the granddaughter of Alfred the Great,
was given in marriage to Otto I, the king of Saxony and the Holy
Roman Emperor. She had at least two children before her death in 946
at age 36. In 2010 her remains were found in Magdeburg Cathedral in
northern Germany.
(AFP, 1/20/10)(AFP, 6/17/10)

933 Mar 15, Henry the Fowler
routed the raiding Magyars at Merseburg, Germany. The Wagner opera
Lohengrin is about King Henry and how he united the people of
Brabant with the Saxons against the Hungarian foe.
(HN, 3/15/99)(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)

936-1531 Aachen in West Germany was the coronation
city for German kings over this period.
(WUD, 1994, p.1)

955 Aug 10, Otto organized his
nobles and defeated the invading Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld
in Germany.
(HN, 8/10/98)

983 Dec 7, Otto II the Red
(~28), German king and emperor (973-83), died in Italy. Otto III
[aged 3] took the throne after his father's death.
(HN, 12/7/98)(MC, 12/7/01)

983 The Lutici, a federation of
tribes in northeastern Germany, were first recorded by written
sources in the context of the uprising of this year, by which they
annihilated the rule of the Holy Roman Empire in the Billung and
Northern Marches. Hostilities continued until 997.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutici)

c1000 Cloisters take up brewing at about the turn
of the first millennium. The monks were particularly interested in
the scientific aspects of brewing, and so it was that at the Brabant
Cloister zum Würzen that hops were tried for the very first time.
That probably led to the legend that Brabant King Gambrinus was the
inventor of beer. He is still remembered today as a great patron of
the brewers and a beer lover in his own right.
(www.oldworld.ws/okbeerhist.html)

1000-1020 The Bamberg Apocalypse, a richly
illuminated manuscript containing the Book of Revelation and a
Gospel Lectionary, was created in the scriptorium at Reichenau
during this period.
(SSFC, 6/9/13,
p.E7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamberg_Apocalypse)

1001 Otto III was ousted. He
had moved his thrown from Germany to Rome and fancied himself Holy
Roman Emperor.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R54)

1002 Jun 6, German king Henry
II, the Saint, was crowned.
(MC, 6/6/02)

1077 Jan 28, Pope Gregory VII
pardoned German emperor Henry IV at Canossa in northern Italy. Henry
had insisted that he reserved the right to "invest" bishops and
other clergymen, despite the papal decree, but became penitent when
faced with permanent excommunication.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_to_Canossa)(Econ, 5/9/09, p.88)

1096 May 18, Crusaders
massacred the Jews of Worms. Before embarking on the First Crusade
to wrest the Holy Land from Muslim Turks, Count Emich von Leiningen
and his army swept through their own German homeland, murdering
thousands of Jews, whom they had declared "murderers of Christ."
When Emich arrived in the town of Worms in May, the town's Roman
Catholic Bishop tried to protect the Jewish population, but the
Crusaders overran his palace and slaughtered some 500 people who had
taken shelter there. Another 300 were killed over the next two days.
The graves of the massacre victims can still be seen at the Jewish
Cemetery at Worms.
(HNPD, 5/12/99)(SC, 5/18/02)

1100-1200 The Stammheim Missal was made. It told
stories from Creation to the crucifixion of Christ. In 1997 it was
acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.E3)

1100-1200 Berlin was founded amid the sandy plains
and swamps of Brandenburg. In 1998 Alexandra Richie published
"Faust’s Metropolis: A History of Berlin."
(WSJ, 5/1/98, p.W5)

1100-1200 The Oberburg Castle was built in the
12th century by the Knights of Leyen.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.T8)

1100-1200 Two 12th century castles along the Rhine
were owned, according to legend, by the brothers Conrad and Heinrich
of Boppard. They came to blows over a woman, Hildegarde, and the
ruins of the castles were named the Warring Brothers.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5)

c1100-1200 The Festung Ehrenbreitsen, Europe’s
largest fortress, was built at the convergence of the Mosel and
Rhine Rivers.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.T1)

1133 Jun 4, In Rome Pope
Innocentius II crowned German King Lothair II as emperor at the
Church of the Lateran.
(MC, 6/4/02)(PCh, 1992, p.92)

1134 In Germany the Cistercian
Himmerod Abbey was founded by the French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux.
In 2017 it had just six resident monks before its closure was
decided, down from about 30 monks in the 1970s.
(AP, 10/14/17)

1133 Jun 4, In Rome Pope
Innocentius II crowned German King Lothair II as emperor at the
Church of the Lateran.
(MC, 6/4/02)(PCh, 1992, p.92)

1147 Oct 25, At the Battle at
Dorylaeum (Turkey) Arabs beat Konrad III's crusaders. Conrad III of
Germany and Louis VII of France had assembled 500,000 men for the
2nd Crusade. Most of the men were lost to starvation, disease and
battle wounds.
(PCh, 1992,
p.94)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dorylaeum_%281147%29)

1148 Jul 24, Crusaders, led by
Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, attacked Damascus. It
was a dismal failure and effectively ended the 2nd Crusade.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Crusade)(V.D.-H.K.p.109)(ON,
6/12, p.5)

1152 Mar 4, Frederick
Barbarossa was chosen as emperor and united the two factions, which
emerged in Germany after the death of Henry V.
(HN, 3/4/99)

1179 Sep 17, Hildegard von
Bingen (b.1098), mystic and composer (Ordo Virtutum), died at 81.
The abbess Hildegard concocted the Lingua Ignota, an artificial
language. Her work included the morality play "Ordo Virtutum." In
2012 she was named a “doctor" of the Catholic church.
(WSJ, 6/20/96, p.A16)(Wired, 8/96, p.84)(WSJ,
7/30/98, p.A16)(AP, 10/7/12)

1190 Jun 10, Frederick I van
Hohenstaufen, Barbarossa (1123-1190), king of Germany and Italy and
the Holy Roman Empire, drowned crossing the Saleph River while
leading an army of the Third Crusade. Frederick struggled to extend
German influence throughout Europe, maneuvering both politically and
militarily. He clashed with the pope, the powerful Lombards and
fellow Germans among others throughout the years. He joined the
Third Crusade in the Spring of 1189 in their efforts to free
Jerusalem from Saladin's army
(WUD, 1994, p.565)(HN, 6/10/98)(HNQ, 2/3/01)

1194 Dec 26, Frederick II,
German Emperor (1212-1220) and King of Sicily (1198-1250), was born
in Lesi, Italy. He became the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy
in 1220 and continued to 1250.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor)

1200 In Germany “The
Nibelungenlied" (the Song of the Nibelungs) was written about this
time. The epic poem of some 10,000 lines was based on tales that
reached back to the 5th century destruction of the Burgundian
kingdom by the Huns. In 2006 Burton Raffel wrote an English
translation “Das Nibelungenlied."
(WSJ, 10/28/06, p.P13)
c1200 The Sorbs, a Slavic
people, settled in areas that later became Germany. They spoke a
language similar to Czech.
(SFC, 11/8/00, p.B2)

1200-1300 St. Gertrude, a German nun, was an
important Catholic mystic.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A9)

1200-1300 The Mauseturm, Tower of Mice, was built
downriver from Rudesheim on an islet on the Rhine in the 13th
century. It was named after the plight of the 9th century Archbishop
Hatto of Mainz.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)

1200-1300 Burg Reichenstein, downstream from
Assmannshausen on the Rhine, was the stronghold of the 13th century
robber-knight Philip von Hohenfels who "robbed ladies, imprisoned
the clergy, mistreated vassals and plundered merchants."
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)

1220 Nov 22, After promising to
go to the aid of the Fifth Crusade within nine months, Hohenstaufen
King Frederick II was crowned Holy Roman Emperor and King of Italy
by Pope Honorius III.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
1220 Nov 22, After promising to
go to the aid of the Fifth Crusade within nine months, Hohenstaufen
King Frederick II was crowned Holy Roman by Pope Honorius III.
(HN, 11/22/98)(PCh, 1992, p.106)

1245 In Germany the Rheinfels
castle was built by Count Diether V von Katzenelnbogen to protect
the St. Goar tax collectors. It soon developed into one of the
mightiest fortresses in the Middle Rhine region. His family was
responsible for many of the Rhine castles.
(http://www.st-goar.de/734-1-geschichte-burg-rheinfels-1.html)(SFEC,
3/15/98, p.T5)

1249 Feb 7, The Christburg
Peace Treaty forced the Prussians to recognize the rule of the
Teutonic Knights. Within about 50 years the Teutonic Knights and
Knights of the Cross had overcome most of Prussia and established
German as the dominant culture and language. The German orders then
turned to Lithuania.
(H of L, 1931, p.25)(LHC, 2/7/03)

1294 Historical records first
mentioned the German town of Atterwasch. German plans to eliminate
nuclear power by 2022 led to xxpansion of lignite coal mining in the
region and called for the removal of Atterwasch and two nearby towns
by 2025.
(SSFC, 11/30/14, p.A22)

1298 Jul 2, An army under
Albert of Austria defeated and killed Adolf of Nassua near Worms,
Germany.
(HN, 7/2/98)

1300 In southern Germany a
scribe identified as Menahem made about this time what came to be
called the Birds’ Head Haggadah, the world’s oldest illustrated
Passover manuscript.
(SFC, 4/22/16, p.A5)
1300 A Jewish merchant ransomed
the body of Rabbi Meir, imprisoned in 1284, and buried him in Worms.
(NH, 9/96, p.24)

1300-1400 The archbishop of Trier used the castle
across from Assmannshausen as his residence.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T4)

1304 The Hotel Pilgrim Haus was
founded in Soest, Germany.
(SFC, 4/14/06, p.D1)

1308 Nov 8, John Duns Scotus
(42), Scottish-born theologian and philosopher, died in Germany.
Scotus and his adherents came under attack by critics in the 16th
century, giving rise to the term "dunce."
(AP,
11/8/08)(www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj55.htm)

1324 Feb 10, The pope
officially chastised the Knights of the Cross for ill treatment of
Catholics and for pushing pagans away from Christianity.
(LHC, 2/10/03)

1327 The Pfalzgrafenstein
castle was built near the village of Bacharach.
(SFEC, 3/15/98, p.T5)

1346 Nov 26, Charles of
Luxembourg was crowned German king. He succeeded his father John of
Luxemburg as King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg.
(PC, 1992 ed, p.128)

1347-1350 The Black Death: A Genoese trading post
in the Crimea was besieged by an army of Kipchaks from Hungary and
Mongols from the East. The latter brought with them a new form of
plague, Yersinia pestis. Infected dead bodies were catapulted into
the Genoese town. One Genoese ship managed to escape and brought the
disease to Messina, Sicily. The disease quickly became an epidemic.
It moved over the next few years to northern Italy, North Africa,
France, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, the Low
countries, England, Scandinavia and the Baltic. There were lesser
outbreaks in many cities for the next twenty years. An estimated 25
million died in Europe and economic depression followed. In 2005
John Kelly authored “The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the
Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time."
(NG, 5/88, p.678)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(SSFC,
3/6/05, p.B1)(SFC, 10/13/11, p.A6)

1348 Feb 2, The Knights of the
Cross defeated a Lithuanian army at Streva.
(LHC, 2/2/03)

1360s The Flagellants of
Thuringia engage in self mortification and refused to work.
(www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc04/htm/0341=325.htm)

1368 Feb 14-1368 Feb 15,
Sigismund (d.1437), son of Charles IV, was born in Nuremberg,
Germany. He served as Holy Roman Emperor from 1433-1437.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)

1380-1471 Thomas a Kempis, German theologian:
"Verily, when the day of judgment comes, we shall not be asked what
we have read, but what we have done." "Would to God that we might
spend a single day really well."
(AP, 1/28/98)(AP, 7/28/00)

1384 Jan 30, Vytautas handed
over Samogitia to the Knights of the Cross and promised to serve as
a vassal to the order following receipt of Trakai.
(LHC, 1/30/03)

1386 The Univ. of Heidelberg,
the oldest in Germany, was founded.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.T8)

1397 Jan 26, Vytautas signed a
treaty with the Knights of the Cross but Samogitia was not included.
(LHC, 1/26/03)

1397 Jun 17, The Union of
Kalmar united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under one monarch. The
alliance grew out of the dynastic ties of the Scandinavian countries
of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in response to rising German influence
in the Baltic. The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning
a series of personal unions (1397–1523) that united the three
kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe
Islands and, prior to their annexation by Scotland in 1471, Shetland
and Orkney), and Sweden (including Finland) under a single monarch.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmar_Union)

1397 Spaten's roots date back
to this time. The company name comes from Munich brewing family
Spaeth, which bought a 225 year-old brewery in 1622 ran the firm for
seven generations.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1400 Feb 8, The Knights of the
Cross with the assistance of Vytautas and the hercog of Lotaringia
defeated Samogitia for the 1st time.
(LHC, 2/8/03)

c1400 Johann Gutenberg (Johannes Gensfleisch zur
Laden zum Gutenberg d.1468), was born in Mainz. He was the inventor
of movable, metal type, a stamping mold for casting type, the alloy
of lead, tin, and antimony for the cast letters, the printing press
itself, and a printing ink with an oil base. The first books were
printed around 1450 on rag paper.
(V.D.-H.K.p.153-154)(SFC, 2/15/97, p.D1)(WSJ,
9/14/00, p.A24)

1400 Klaus Stoertebeker, the
most famous German pirate of the Middle Ages, is believed to have
been beheaded by authorities in Hamburg, together with 30 of his
followers. The heads were nailed on pillars at the entrance of the
Hamburg harbor in an effort to deter would-be pirates. The skull,
which is perforated by a massive nail, was found during building
work in 1878 on the site where the execution is said to have taken
place. On Jan 9, 2010, his skull was stolen from the Museum for
Hamburg History.
(AP, 1/20/10)

c1400-1500 The 15th century German "Housebook" was
produced. It taught the rules and etiquette of jousting, and
contained remedies, cooking recipes, information on love and
horoscopes.
(SFEC, 1/10/99, p.T3)

c1400-1500 Cardinal Nikolaus Cusanus, philosopher,
founded a religious and charitable institution complete with
vineyard at Kues, across from Bernkastel on the Mosel River.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.T8)

1407 Jan 21, Duke Vytautas led
Polish and German forces for a 2nd time against the Duchy of Moscow.
(LHC, 1/18/03)

1411 Feb 1, Lithuania, Poland
and the Knights of the Cross signed the Torun Peace Treaty.
Samogitia was returned to Lithuania. The Teutonic Knights had
regrouped and gone to battle against Vytautas and Jogaila. Peace was
signed at Torun and western Lithuania was returned, but not Klaipeda
(Memel).
(Ist. L.H., 1948, p. 71)(LHC, 1/31/03)

1414 Nov 16, A council of
bishops opened in Constance Germany under Emp. Sigismund. When the
council of Constance opened, Christians owed obedience to three
different popes: Gregory XII of the Roman party, Benedict XIII of
the Avignon party, and John XXIII, who had been elected after the
death of Alexander V. John XXIII and Benedict XIII were deposed by
the council, and Gregory XII voluntarily resigned. Then Martin V was
elected pope on 11 November 1417 and he was regarded as the
legitimate pontiff by the church as a whole.
(www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/CONSTANC.HTM)(WUD,
1994 p.313)

1415 Jul 6, Jan Hus, Bohemian
religious reformer, a Czech who spoke out against Church corruption,
was burned at the stake as a heretic at Constance, Germany.
(NH, 9/96, p.23)(HN, 7/6/98)(MC, 7/6/02)

1416 Feb 6, A Samogitian
complaint against the Knights of the Cross was read at the Catholic
Church Council at Constance.
(LHC, 2/6/03)

1416 Feb 13, A Lithuanian and
Polish delegation read their grievances against the Teutonic Knights
at the Church Council at Constance.
(LHC, 2/13/03)

1417 Bibliophile Poggio
Bracciolini stumbled on a work by Roman poet Lucretius in a
monastery in southern Germany. Lucretius (~99BC-~55BC) had authored
“On the Nature of Things" (De Rerum Natura), which laid out in 7,400
lines of Latin verse the radical philosophy of the Greek philosopher
Epicurus (341BC-270BC). The work had disappeared in the Middle Ages
and lay largely forgotten until Bracciolini found it. In 2011
Stephen Greenblatt authored “The Swerve: How the World Became
Modern."
(SSFC, 12/18/11,
p.F7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucretius)

1418 Feb 25, At the
Constance church synod the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and
Lithuania, Gregory Camblak, proposed a union between the Orthodox
and Catholic church.
(LHC, 2/25/03)

1418 The Church Council at
Constance, Germany, begun in 1914, ended.
(WUD, 1994 p.313)

1419 Aug 16, Wenceslas
(b.1361), son of Charles IV and King of Germany, died. He served as
King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia (1363) and King of the Romans (1376).
(MC, 8/16/02)(Internet)

1429 The beginning of coal
mining in the Saarland (Germany) dates to this time.
(Econ, 3/1/08, p.71)

1450 Johannes Gutenberg began
printing a bible with movable type in Mainz. He perfected
interchangeable type that could be cast in large quantities and
invented a new type of press.
(NG, March 1990, p. 117)(WSJ, 10/31/96,
p.A21)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1450 Johannes Gutenberg was
able to convince financier Johann Fust to loan him 800 guilders, a
considerable sum. Gutenberg‘s experiments with printing were
financed in large part by Fust, who later won a suit against
Gutenberg to recoup his investment. Fust invested another 800
guilders in 1452, securing a partnership in Gutenberg‘s business. By
1455, impatient for results or perhaps simply due to estrangement
from Gutenberg, Fust sued and won a settlement of just over 2,000
guilders: the sum of the two loans plus interest. Fust also gained
control of Gutenberg‘s movable type and some of his printing
equipment. Gutenberg was able to continue some printing and
eventually was granted a pension by the archbishop of Mainz in 1465.
(HNQ, 1/12/01)

1450-1460 The German Master E.S. made his drawing
"Girl With a Ring."
(WSJ, 12/8/99, p.A20)

1454 Johann Fust, the financial
backer of Johannes Gutenberg, sued Gutenberg over a loan agreement,
and set up his own shop.
(WSJ, 9/14/00, p.A24)

1459-1525 Jakob Fugger II, German banker. He
minted his own money and maintained banks in every European capital.
He held a contract for managing the Pope's money and collected cash
for the remission of sins. He bankrolled the election of Charles V.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8)

1465 The archbishop of Mainz
made Gutenberg a courtier.
(WSJ, 9/14/00, p.A24)

1466 Oct 19, The peace of Torun
ended the 13-year War of the Cities (1454-1466), between the
Teutonic knights and their own disaffected subjects in Prussia. The
Peace of Thorn (Torún) ended the war between the Teutonic knights (a
German military and religious order) and their subjects in Prussia,
led by King Casimir IV (1427-1492) of Poland. Poland was given
Pomerelia and West Prussia, and the knights retained East Prussia,
with a new capital at Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The knights,
formerly strictly a German order, were forced to accept Poles as
members and their grand master became a vassal of the Polish king.
(HN,
10/19/98)(http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/T/TeutonKn.html)

1471 Aug 8, Thomas a Kempis
(91), [Thomas Hammerken von Kempen], German writer, monk, died. His
popular "Imitation of Christ" went through 99 editions by the end of
the century.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)(MC, 8/8/02)

1480 In Hamburg a pioneering
labor market appeared for hiring day workers.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)

1480-1538 Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter. He
painted "Martyrdom of St. Florian." He also painted a depiction of
Alexander’s 333BC defeat of Darius at Issus.
(AAP, 1964)(WUD, 1994, p.43)(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.W11)

1484 Dec 5, Pope Innocent VIII
issued a bull deploring the spread of witchcraft and heresy in
Germany. He ordered that all cats belonging to witches scheduled to
be burned, be also burned. Kraemer and Sprenger, two Dominican
friars, had induced Pope Innocent VIII to issue a bull authorizing
them to extirpate witchcraft in Germany.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, zone 1 p.2)(HN, 12/5/98)(HNQ,
10/31/99)

1486 Heinrich Kramer and Jacob
Sprenger, Dominican friars, published Malleus Maleficarum (The
Witches‘ Hammer) or (Hexenhammer in German), which became the
authoritative encyclopedia of demonology throughout Christendom. It
was first published in Germany in 1487. The authority of their work,
which was a synthesis of folk beliefs that had until then been
manifested in local outbursts of witch finding, lasted through the
European witch craze of the next three centuries [see Dec 5, 1484].
(HNQ,
10/31/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum)

1492 Nov 7, A meteorite landed
in Ensisheim, Germany. Emperor Maximilian visited Ensisheim 15 days
after the fall and ordered that the Ensisheim meteorite be preserved
in the local church. A piece of the stone was put up for auction in
2007.
(www.meteorite.fr/en/basics/history.htm)(Econ,
10/27/07, p.96)

1493 The 600-page "World
Chronicle" by physician Hartmann Schedel (1440-1513) was first
published in Nuremburg. One copy is held at the Library of the
Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. Anton Koberger, a Nuremberg
publisher, published 2,500 copies of the "Nuremberg Chronicle" by
Hartmann Schedel. It included woodcuts by Michael Wohlgemuth and
Wilhelm Pleyenwurff.
(StuAus, April '95, p.49)(SFC, 3/1/02,
p.D18)(www.newadvent.org/cathen/13525a.htm)

1496 In Germany a Benedictine
abbey in Altomuenster, a town on the end of the subway line from
Munich, began housing the Bridgettine Order, a female religious
order founded by Saint Bridget in Sweden in the 14th century. In
2017 the women's monastery was closed by the Vatican after the
number of nuns there fell below the three needed to train new
novices.
(AP, 12/24/17)

1498 The first pawnshop
reportedly opened in Nuremberg, Germany.
(SFEC, 2/22/98, Z1 p.8)

1500 Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)
of Nuremburg painted a self-portrait later described as the most
gorgeous portrait ever painted.
(WSJ, 3/15/08, p.W16)

c1500-1600 George Pencz, 16th century German
artist. His work included "Holy Trinity, Seat of Mercy."
(SFC, 9/29/01, p.B1)
1500-1600 Weimar became the capital of the duchy
of Saxe-Weimar.
(SSFC, 8/1/04, p.D10)

1507 Apr 25, Martin
Waldseemuller, a German geographer working at a small college in
Eastern France, labeled the New World "America," for the first time
in his book "Cosmographiae Introductio," and gave Amerigo Vespucci
(d.1512) credit for discovering it. His map was the first to show
North and South America as separate continents. Letters of 1504-1505
had circulated in Florence claimed that Vespucci had discovered the
new World. Vespucci was in fact only a passenger or low officer on
one of the ships captained by others. Vespucci was later believed to
have been the brother of Simonetta Vespucci, the model for Venus in
the Botticelli painting. In 2000 the US Library of Congress planned
to acquire the original map for $14 million from the Prince Johannes
Waldburg-wolfegg. A $10 million purchase was completed in 2003. In
2009 Toby Lester authored “The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to
the Ends of the World, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave
America Its Name."
(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.T10)(SFC, 10/27/00, p.C14)(WSJ,
7/25/03, p.W19)(AP, 4/25/07)(SSFC, 12/27/09, Books p.E5)(SFC,
11/8/17, p.A4)

1516 The German Quedlinburg
Manuscript of this date and other church treasures were stolen from
a cave where they were being stored in 1945 by Lt. Joe Tom Meador of
Whitewright, Texas. The items were then sold by his brother and
sister. In 1996 a criminal trial focused on the issue.
(WSJ, 12/11/96, p.A20)

1517 Oct 31, Martin Luther
nailed his Ninety-five Thesis to the door of the Wittenberg Palace
All Saints’ Church. He grew to believe in faith alone as man’s link
to the justice of God, and therefore denied the need for the vast
infrastructure of the Church. This event signaled the beginning of
the Protestant Reformation in Germany and Protestantism in general,
shattering the external structure of the medieval church and at the
same time reviving the religious consciousness of Europe. Martin
Luther (1483-1546) was born in Eisleben, Germany. He was a monk in
the Catholic Church until 1517, when he founded the Lutheran Church.
(V.D.-H.K.p.163)(CU, 6/87)(SFC, 7/21/97,
p.A11)(AP, 10/31/97)(AP, 10/31/97) (HN, 10/31/98)

1519 Jul 6, Charles of Spain
was elected Holy Roman emperor in Barcelona. The Catholic heir to
the Hapsburg dynasty, Charles V, was elected Holy Roman Emperor,
combining the crowns of Spain, Burgundy (with the Netherlands),
Austria and Germany. He was the grandson of Ferdnand and Isabella of
Spain.
(V.D.-H.K.p.162)(NH, 9/96, p.18)(HN, 7/6/98)

1519 Jul 16, There was a public
debate between Martin Luther and theologian John Eck.
(MC, 7/16/02)

1520 In Germany Jacob Fugger
“The Rich" established a Roman Catholic housing settlement for the
poor in Augsburg in the name of Augsburg’s local St. Ulrich. In
return for cheap rent residents agreed to pray for the Fuggers’
souls.
(WSJ, 12/26/08, p.A10)
1520 The Jews of Rothenburg,
Bavaria, were banished entirely and forevermore.
(NH, 9/96, p.24)

1521 Apr 17, Under the
protection of Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, Martin Luther
first appeared before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Imperial
Diet to face charges stemming from his religious writings. The Roman
Catholic Church had already excommunicated him on Jan 3, 1521. He
was later declared an outlaw by Charles V.
(NH, 9/96, p.18)(HN, 4/17/98)(AP, 4/17/07)

1521 Apr 18, Martin Luther
confronted the emperor Charles V in the Diet of Worms and refused to
retract his views which led to his excommunication. Cardinal
Alexander questioned the Rev Martin Luther.
(HN, 4/18/99)(MC, 4/18/02)

1521 Apr 21, Martin Luther was
called before an Imperial Diet in Worms. He was already accused of
heresy and excommunicated by the Pope. Here he was absolved of all
charges.
(V.D.-H.K.p.163)

1521 May 8, Emperor Charles V
and the Diet issued the Edict of Worms. It banned Luther’s work and
enjoined his detention, but was not able to be enforced.
(NH, 9/96, p.20)

1521 May 26, Martin Luther was
banned by the Edict of Worms of because of his religious beliefs and
writings.
(AP, 5/26/97)

1522 Jun 30, Johann Reuchlin
(b.1455), German-born humanist, died in Stuttgart. He was the first
Christian Hebraist in northern Europe.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Reuchlin)(Econ, 9/10/16, p.72)

1522 Albrecht Durer, German
artist and engraver, designed a flying machine for use in war.
(TL-MB, p.12)

1522 Martin Luther completed
his translation of the New Testament into German and returned to
Wittenberg. His supporter, Ulrich Zwingli, condemned Lenten fasting
and celibacy. Luther also published his Christmas Postils as
preaching models for other pastors.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.12)(WSJ, 12/21/01, p.W15)

1524 cApr, The Peasant’s War,
in which Protestants fought against Catholics and demanded an end to
feudal services and oppression by the landed gentry, broke out in
Germany.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.12)

1524 Albrecht Durer drafted a
dozen drawings of the same face on a grid. Each grid was transformed
as if it were printed on a rubber graph which was then bent and
twisted to distort the normal proportions. Computerized morphing
only came c1990.
(MT, 10/94, D. Swanbrow, p.9)

1524 Peter Bennewitz, German
Prof. of mathematics, produced the first textbook on theoretical
geography: "Cosmographia."
(TL-MB, p.12)

1524-1525 A widespread popular revolt in the
German-speaking areas of Central Europe became known as the
Peasant’s Revolt. It failed because of the intense opposition of the
aristocracy, who slaughtered up to 100,000 of the 300,000 poorly
armed peasants and farmers. Thomas Muntzer (1489-1525), German
preacher and theologian, was among the participants and leaders of
the revolt.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Peasants'_War)

1525 May 7, The German
peasants' revolt was crushed by the ruling class and church.
(HN, 5/7/99)

1525 May 15, A German army
under Philip of Hesse surrounded and slaughtered 5,000 ending a
peasant revolt led by Thomas Muntzer.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M%C3%BCntzer)(PCh, 1992,
p.173)

1525 William Tyndale
(1494-1536), English religious scholar, completed his translation of
the New Testament in Hamburg, Germany. It was published in Worms in
Spring 1526, and then smuggled to England.
(ON, 11/04,
p.2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale)

1526 Feb 27, Saxony and Hesse
formed the League of Gotha, a league of Protestant princes.
(MC, 2/27/02)

1526 William Tyndale published
the first complete version of the New Testament in English at Worms,
Germany. "Tyndale was the first translator of the biblical texts
from their original Greek and Hebrew into English."
(WSJ, 12/22/94, A-20)(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A20)

1527 May 6, German and Spanish
troops under Charles V began sacking Rome, bringing about the end of
the Renaissance. Libraries were destroyed, Pope Clement VII was
captured and thousands were killed. 147 of 189 of the Pope’s Swiss
guard were killed.
(HN, 5/6/02)(PCh, 1992, p.174)(WSJ, 4/14/06,
p.W5)

1527 May 30, The University of
Marburg was founded. It is the oldest Protestant University in
Germany.
(HFA, '96, p.30)(AHD, p.797)(HN, 5/30/98)

1529 Apr 19, The 2nd Parliament
of Speyer banned Lutheranism. At the Diet of Speyer the Lutheran
minority protested against restrictions on their teachings and were
called "Protestant" for the first time.
(TL-MB, 1988,
p.13)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speyer)

1530 Georgius Agricola
(1494-1555), German mineralogist and scholar, published his dialogue
“Bermannus, sive de re metallica dialogus," the first systematic
book on mineralogy.
(TL-MB,
p.14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Agricola)

1530 Martin Luther and Philip
Melanchthon drew up the Augsburg Confessions and presented them
unsuccessfully to the German Diet at Augsburg convened by Charles V.
(TL-MB, p.14)

1531 Feb 27, German Protestants
formed the League of Schmalkalden to defend themselves against
Charles V and the Roman Catholic states.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(HN, 2/27/99)

1540 German vintner records
described this year as the “Great Sun Year," as relentless heat and
drought withered the Rhine between Cologne and the Netherlands.
(SFC, 3/31/05, p.F3)
1540 Diethyl ether was produced
from alcohol and sulfuric acid. Valerius Cordus (1515-1544), German
physician and botanist, discovered the compound.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerius_Cordus)(ON, 10/20/11, p.9)

1552 Aug 2, The treaty of
Passau gave religious freedom to Protestants living in Germany. The
Augsburg Interim was annulled and Lutherans were allowed freedom of
worship in Germany.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)(HN, 8/2/98)

1553 Oct 16, Lucas Cranach the
elder (b.1472), German painter and graphic artist, died at 81. His
work included "Madonna and Child in a Landscape."
(TL-MB, 1988, p.13)(WUD, 1994,
p.339)(http://tinyurl.com/ykv47h)

1554 Jorg Wickram, German
writer, wrote the first German romance novel: "Der Goldfaden."
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)

1555 Sep 25, The Religious
Peace of Augsburg compromised differences between Catholics and
Protestants in the German states. Each prince could chose which
religion would be followed in his realm. Lutheranism was
acknowledged by the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Augsburg was the
first permanent legal basis for the existence of Lutheranism as well
as Catholicism in Germany. It was promulgated as part of the Diet of
the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V's Augsburg Interim of 1548 was a
temporary doctrinal agreement between German Catholics and
Protestants that was overthrown in 1552.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(PCh, 1992, p.189)(HNQ,
2/8/99)

1555 Nov 21, Georgius Bauer
(b.1494), German mineralogist (Agricola), died. His full description
of mining, smelting, and chemistry in "De Re Metallica," was
published in Basel in 1556. In it he described the hazards of
mining, including occupational diseases such as "difficulty in
breathing and destruction of the lungs." It was still the major
source on the state of technology in the Middle Ages. In 1912 it was
translated by Herbert Hoover, mining engineer and future US
president.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)(WSJ, 7/29/06,
p.P8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Agricola)

1571 Dec 27, Johannes Kepler
(d.1630), German astronomer known as the "father of modern
astronomy," was born. Working with the data gathered by Tycho Brahe,
he established the three laws of planetary motion:
a) The planets do not travel in concentric
circles, but in ellipses, with the sun at one of the two foci of the
ellipse.
b) A radius vector joining a planet to the sun
sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
c) The third law asserted a mathematical relation
between the periods of revolution of the planets and their distance
from the sun.
(V.D.-H.K.p.199)(HN, 12/27/98)

1594 Jun 14, Orlando di Lasso
(b.~1532), Franco-Flemish composer, died in Munich. He was the
most famous and influential musician in Europe at the end of the
16th century. Along with Palestrina (of the Roman School), he is
considered to be the chief representative of the mature polyphonic
style of the Franco-Flemish School.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlande_de_Lassus)

1609 Jul 10, The Catholic
states in Germany set up a league under the leadership of
Maximillian of Bavaria.
(HN, 7/10/98)

1609 The 1st newspaper was
published in Germany.
(SFC, 7/26/04, p.F4)

1609 Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630), German astronomer and mathematician, authored
“Astronomia Nova." Written in 1605, but not published until 1609, it
discussed how Mars moves in an elliptical orbit.
(SFC, 10/25/99, p.A4)(Econ, 8/15/09,
p.75)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler)

1612 Jan 20, Rudolf II von
Habsburg (59), emperor of Germany (1576-1612), died in Prague and
Matthias became Holy Roman Emperor. In 1912 an enigmatic manuscript,
once owned by Rudolf II, was acquired by Wilfrid Voynich and came to
be known as the Voynich manuscript. In 2006 Peter Marshall authored
“The Magic Circle of Rudolf II."
(WSJ, 1/8/99,
p.C13)(www.historylearningsite.co)(Econ, 1/10/04, p.71)(WSJ, 9/9/06,
p.P9)

1616 A set of silver playing
cards was created in Germany about this time engraved by a man named
Michael Frömmer. It used a suit seen in Italy, with swords, coins,
batons and cups in values from ace to 10. Each of these suits has
three face cards — king, knight and knave.
(LiveScience, 11/30/12)

1618 May 23, The Thirty Years
War (1618-1648) ravaged Germany. It began when three opponents of
the Reformation were thrown through a window. The "official"
Defenestration of Prague was the "official" trigger for the Thirty
Year’s War. Local Protestants became enraged when Catholic King
Ferdinand II reneged on promises of religious freedom and stormed
Hradcany Castle and threw 3 Catholic councilors out of the window
and into the moat. The conflict spread across Europe with most of
the fighting taking place in Germany. The Peace of Westphalia in
1648 brought the war to an end and ended the emperor‘s authority
over Germany outside the Hapsburg domain.
(V.D.-H.K.p.90)(NH, 9/96, p.18,22)(HN,
5/23/98)(HNQ, 2/28/00)

1633 In Oberammergau, Germany,
plague victims swore an oath to portray the suffering and death of
the Lord every 10 years. Their first Passion Play was performed in
1634.
(www.passionplay-oberammergau.com/index.php?id=127)

1634 In Oberammergau, Germany,
a re-enactment of the last days of Jesus began to be performed. The
Passion Play was performed from then on every ten years with a few
rare exceptions. In 1633 plague victims had sworn an oath to portray
the suffering and death of the Lord every 10 years.
(WSJ, 5/18/00,
p.A1)(www.passionplay-oberammergau.com/index.php?id=127)

1635 A Cistercian nunnery and
surrounding villages of Sorbs in Germany’s Upper Lusatia remained
Catholic after Protestant Saxony priced the land away from Bohemia.
(Econ, 6/28/08, p.59)

1635-1682 Johann Joachim Becher, German alchemist.
""It is always better to sell goods to others than to buy goods from
others, for the former brings a certain advantage and the latter
inevitable damage."
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R50)

1636 Aug 8, The invading armies
of Spain, Austria and Bavaria were stopped at the village of
St.-Jean-de-Losne, only 50 miles from France.
(HN, 8/8/98)

1637-1707 Dietrich Buxtehude, German composer. He
was a transitional figure between early and later baroque. Bach made
a legendary journey on foot to hear the aging composer perform.
Handel also journeyed to see him 3 years before Bach. His works
include Jubilate Domino and the Trio Sonata for violin, gamba and
continuo.
(EMN, 1/96, p.1)

1640-1688 Elector Friedrich Wilhelm acquired a
collection of paintings by Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt and others at
his home in Oranien. His nephew was Frederick the Great.
(WSJ, 7/29/98, p.A13)

1646 Gluckel of Hameln was born
in Hamburg. She married at 14 and had 12 children and was widowed at
age 44. She continued for 3 more decades as a single businesswoman
and devoted diarist. Her story was made into a theater production in
1999 by the New York based Great Small Works.
(SFC, 10/16/99, p.D1,4)

1648 Oct 24, The Peace of
Westphalia ended the German Thirty Years War and effectively
destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. The Treaties of Osnabruck and
Munster, that ended the Thirty Years" War, divided Pomerania, a
historic region that once stretched from Stralsund to the Vistula
along the Baltic Sea in north-central Europe, into two parts known
as Hither Pomerania and Farther Pomerania. Hither Pomerania, the
area west of the Oder River, was granted to Sweden. Farther
Pomerania was east of the Oder and went to the state of Brandenburg.
Hither Pomerania is now part of the German state of Mecklenburg-West
Pomerania; Farther Pomerania is now part of Poland. The 30 years war
had spread from one end of Germany to the other, and left the
country a scene of desolation and disorder, wasted by fire, sword
and plague. The war was followed by great scarcity, due to the lack
of laborers. San Marino did not attend the conference or sign the
treaty because it had not been involved in the fighting, however it
was linked to states that were fighting and was therefore still at
war with Sweden until 1996 when an official end was declared. The
treaty abolished private armies and the nation-state acquired a
monopoly on maintaining armies and fighting wars.
(AP, 10/24/97)(WSJ, 6/1/99, p.A22)(HNQ,
10/6/99)(Econ, 5/24/08, p.80)

1672 Nov 1, Heinrich
Schutz (87), composer, died. Pupil of Giovanni Gabrielli from
1609-1672, he was employed by the Elector of Saxony in 1615 and
became Kapellmeister two years later. While employed by the Elector,
Schütz made several visits to Italy and served three two-year terms
as guest court conductor in Copenhagen. Schütz's works include one
opera (a first in the German language), Easter and Christmas
oratorios, three passions, numerous polychoral Psalm settings in the
style of his teacher, Gabrielli, other sacred concerted works in
Latin and German, and Italian madrigals.
(http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schutz.html)

1678 Frederick William,
Brandenburg’s Great Elector, gave Bielefeld the privilege of
certifying the quality of local linen. This cemented its position as
a center for the textile trade.
(Econ, 4/14/12,
p.30)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg)
1678 Louis XIV claimed the
region of Alsace from Germany.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4)

1686 May 24, Gabriel Daniel
Fahrenheit (d.1736), German physicist, was born. He devised a
temperature scale and introduced the use of mercury in thermometers.
He assigned the number 32 for the melting point of ice, 96 to the
temperature of blood and 212 to the steam point. [see May 14]
(WUD, 1994, p.510)(SFEC, 3/22/98, Par. p.8)(HN,
5/24/98)

1689 May 12, England’s King
William III joined the League of Augsburg and the Netherlands. The
"Grand Alliance" was formed to counter the war of aggression
launched by Louis XIV against the Palatinate states in Germany. This
is known as The War of the League of Augsburg (1689-97) also The
Nine Years' War, and the War of the Grand Alliance.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/king_william.htm)

1692 In Germany Rheinfels
castle withstood a siege of 28,000 French troops sent by Louis XIV.
French troops under Napoleon destroyed it in 1797.
(SSFC, 11/29/15,
p.G6)(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinfels_Castle)

1693 Heidelberg was torched by
the troops of Louis XIV in a dispute over a royal title.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.T8)

1696 The Hotel Elephant was
founded in Weimar, the capital of Thuringia.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A8

1699 Mar 4, Jews were expelled
from Lubeck, Germany.
(SC, 3/4/02)

1700 Feb 22, Augustus II
(the Strong), elector of Saxony (1694-1733) and King of Poland
(1697-1706, 1709-1733), with the help of the Saxon army attacked
Swedish controlled Riga. This began the Northern War (1700-1721).
(LHC,
2/22/03)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_II_the_Strong)

1701 German artisans created an
amber room for King Frederick I of Prussia. He presented it as a
gift to Peter the Great in 1716.
(SFC, 3/22/97, p.A16)(SFC, 4/30/98, p.E6)(WSJ,
1/20/00, p.A20)
1701 German alchemist Johann
Friedrich Bottger (1682-1719) escaped from Berlin, where he faced
arrest for claiming he could turn lead into gold. He was arrested in
Wittenberg and sent to Dresden where Augustus the Strong, Elector of
Saxony, ordered him to replicate his alleged feat. Bottger soon
befriended Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, who was interested in
creating true white porcelain. In 1705 Augustus allowed Bottger to
work with Tschirnhaus on making porcelain.
(ON, 8/10,
p.8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_B%C3%B6ttger)

1702 Georg Everhard Rumpf,
German botanist, died. He was employed by the Dutch East India
Company and compiled the “Ambonese Herbal," even after going blind
in 1670. The work was published in Amsterdam between 1741 and 1755.
(Econ, 9/25/04, p.94)

1703 May 18, Dutch and English
troops occupied Cologne.
(SC, 5/18/02)

1704 Aug 13, The Battle of
Blenheim, Germany, was fought during the War of the Spanish
Succession, resulting in a victory for English and Austrian forces.
The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Austria defeated the
French Army at the Battle of Blenheim. In 1705 Joseph Addison wrote
the poem "The Campaign" for the Duke of Marlborough to commemorate
the military victory over France and Spain at the Battle of
Blenheim: "Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and
directs this storm."
(AP, 8/13/97)(HN, 8/13/98)(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A6)

1707 Aug 31, The Treaty or
Convention of Altranstädt was signed between Charles XII of Sweden
and Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor. It settled the rights of
Protestants in Silesia and forced Augustus the Strong to yield the
Polish throne to Stanisław Leszczyński (1677-1766).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Altranst%C3%A4dt_%281707%29)

1708 Jan 5, German alchemist
Johann Friedrich Bottger, under the tutelage of Ehrenfried Walther
von Tschirnhaus, succeeded in creating samples resembling pure
porcelain at the Jungfernbastei castle in Dresden. Augustus the
Strong, Elector of Saxony, had ordered Bottger to re-create the
formula for oriental porcelain. Bottger was imprisoned and joined
physicist Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus in a search for the
formula. Tschirnhaus died in Oct, 1708. Within 2 years a factory was
established in Meissen’s Albrechtsburg and Meissenware became
Europe’s first hard-paste porcelain.
(Hem, 6/96, p.111)(SSFC, 4/25/04, p.D12)(Econ,
4/3/10, p.88)(ON, 8/10, p.9)

1708 Oct 11, Ehrenfried Walther
von Tschirnhaus (b.1651), German physicist, died. Three days after
Von Tschirnhaus’s death, there was a burglary at his house and,
according to a report by Böttger, a small piece of porcelain was
stolen. This report suggests that Böttger himself recognized that
Von Tschirnhaus already knew how to make porcelain, a key piece of
evidence that Von Tschirnhaus and not Böttger was the inventor of
white porcelain.
{Germany, Physics, Ceramics}
(ON, 8/10,
p.9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrenfried_Walther_von_Tschirnhaus)

1708 The German Baptist
Brethren were founded as a band of Pietists in the village of
Schwarzenau. Due to persecution they soon migrated to America. The
Holy Spirit whispers to every believer but can only be heard by
those who sacrifice self-will to god’s will. They observe the rite
of the "holy kiss" and have no leaders.
(WSJ, 8/3/01, p.W13)

1710 Jan 1, Cölln, a town on
the Spree River, united with neighboring Berlin under the latter
name.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Palace,_Berlin)

1710 The Elector of Hanover
commissioned the Hanover Cistern and Fountain, a silver buffet
service intended to cool wine. In 1997 it had an estimated value of
$2-3 million.
(SFC, 10/8/97, Z1 p.4)

1710 In Germany Baron Johann
Bottger invented the Meissen hard-paste porcelain at the Meissen
factory on the river Elbe under the auspices of Augustus, King of
Poland. Kandler was a virtuoso sculptor and brilliant artist at
Meissen and was responsible for the figurine of Mazzetin and
Columbine, 2 characters from the Italian comedia dell ‘arte. In 2008
Maureen Cassidy-Geiger edited “Fragile Diplomacy," an illustrated
look at Meissen porcelain.
(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W10)(WSJ, 2/16/08, p.W11)

1712 Jan 24, Frederick II (the
Great), the Hohenzollern King of Prussia (1740-1786), was born. He
was noted for his social reforms and leading Prussia in military
victories.
(HN, 1/24/99)(WSJ, 4/27/00, p.A24)(MC, 1/24/02)

1713 Bach composed his
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.
(WSJ, 10/5/98, p.A21)
1713 European white porcelain
was put up for general sale for the first time at the Leipzig trade
fair.
(ON, 8/10, p.10)

1714 Mar 8, Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach (d.1788), German composer, son of J.S. Bach, was born.
He played keyboard at the court of Frederick the Great for 28 years,
and succeeded Telemann at Hamburg. Because he was left-handed he did
not play the violin. He represented the elegant, noncontrapuntal
style gallant that was developed by the Mannheim composers and led
into Haydn and Mozart.
(LGC-HCS, p.31)(MC, 3/8/02)

1716 Frederick William I of
Prussia presented his amber room, made as a gift by German artisans
in 1701, to Peter the Great. In exchange he received his wish: 55
very tall Russian soldiers. Catherine the Great later added four
marble panels from Florence, that were inlaid with precious stones.
German troops dismantled it in 1941 and moved it to Konigsberg in
1945, where it was lost during WW II. One of the marble panels
turned up in Bremen in 1997. In 1979 the Soviet government initiated
a reconstruction, which was unveiled in 2003.
(SFC, 3/22/97, p.A16)(SFC, 4/30/98, p.E6)(WSJ,
1/20/00, p.A20)(AP, 5/13/03)

1717-1723 J.S. Bach worked under Prince Leopold at
Anhalt-Cothen. During this period he composed the 1st book of the
Well-Tempered Clavier, the Brandenburg Concertos and the sonatas for
solo violin. Bach likely composed his “Six Suites for Unaccompanied
Cello" during this period, when he served as a Kapellmeister in
Cothen. They were later acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever
written for solo cello. In 2010 Eric Siblin authored “The Cello
Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals and the Search for a Baroque
Masterpiece."
(WSJ, 8/3/00,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello_Suites_%28Bach%29)(Econ,
1/9/10, p.82)

1719 Mar 13, German alchemist
Johann Friedrich Bottger (b.1682) died. He was generally
acknowledged as the inventor of European porcelain. Sources later
ascribed this to Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. Böttger is
still credited with the industrial manufacturing process of Meißen
porcelain.
(ON, 8/10,
p.10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_B%C3%B6ttger)

1722 Daniel Schurzfleisch
brought his book collection to the "Grünes Schloß" (Green Castle) on
35 horse-drawn carts. Duchess Anna Amalia (1739-1807) converted the
palace into a library and made him the 1st librarian.
(SFC, 9/4/04, p.A2)

1722 JS Bach completed the
manuscript of the 1st volume “The Well-Tempered Clavier." It
circulated underground until it was published in 1801.
(WSJ, 2/18/06, p.P12)

1723 Augustus the Strong, ruler
of Saxony and King of Poland, ordered the expansion of the Royal
Residence Palace treasure chamber in Dresden, long called the Green
Vault because of the color of its walls.
(http://tinyurl.com/gp7uy)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.95)

1723-1750 J.S. Bach worked as the cantor of
Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church and school.
(WSJ, 8/3/00, p.A12)

1724 Apr 22, Immanuel Kant
(d.1804), German philosopher (Critique of Pure Reason), was born in
Konigsberg (Kaliningrad). He held that space is just a "form of
sensibility" that our minds impose on experience to give it
structure. His work included the essay "Perpetual Peace."
(V.D.-H.K.p.40)(HN, 4/22/98)(WSJ, 8/21/98,
p.W13)(WSJ, 1/7/98, p.A10)

1727 In Munich the “Die
Andächtige Pilgerfahrt" (The Devout Pilgrimage) by Vincentius
Briemle was published. The 2 illustrated volumes consisted of travel
writing of journeys to Italy, Austria and the Holy Land.
(Econ, 1/20/07,
p.93)(www.dartmouth.edu/~wessweb/nl/Fall05/pinews.html)

1728 Feb 10, Peter III
Fyodorovich (d.1762), czar of Russia (1761-62), was born in Germany.
He married Catherine, who succeeded him following a coup. [see Feb
21]
(WUD, 1994 p.1077)(WSJ, 2/14/02, p.A18)(MC,
2/10/02)

1729-1781 Gotthold Lessing, German writer,
dramatist-critic, saw Faust’s pursuit of knowledge as noble, and in
an unfinished play he arranged for a reconciliation between God and
Faust. "Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases, think for
yourself."
(V.D.-H.K.p.239)(AP, 9/9/99)

1732 Jun 21, Johann Christoph
Frederic Bach (d.1795), composer, was born. He is known as the
Buckeburg Bach for serving in that city his whole life.
(LGC-HCS, p.31)(MC, 6/21/02)

1733 Feb 1, Augustus the
Strong, Elector of Saxony, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1697-1706) and
twice King of Poland (1697-1706, 1709-1733), died in Warsaw.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_II_the_Strong)

1735 Sep 5, Johann Christian
Bach (d.1782), composer, son of JS Bach, was born. He is known as
the London Bach. He traveled to Italy, became a Catholic, and went
to England where he was mentor to the young Mozart. He also
represented the Style Gallant.
(LGC-HCS, p.31)(MC, 9/5/01)

1743 Jun 27, King George of the
English defeated the French at Dettingen, Bavaria. English armies
were victorious over the French at Dettingen. This event was
celebrated by Handel in his composition "Dettingen Te Deum."
(BLW, Geiringer, 1963 ed. p. 317)(HN, 6/27/98)

1743 The Frauenkirche was built
in Dresden, Germany. It was destroyed by allied bombs in 1945, but
plans for rebuilding were scheduled for completion by 2006, the
800th birthday of Dresden. A reconstructed version was consecrated
in 2005.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, p.T6)(SSFC, 10/30/05, p.A16)

1744-1812 Mayer Rothschild, banker, rose from a
ghetto in Frankfurt to become the banker to Prince William of
Prussia. His son, Nathan Rothschild, worked in London as a banker
and invested Prussian money in the Napoleonic Wars and smuggled it
to Wellington in Spain. His 4 other sons established banks in
Vienna, Naples and Paris.
(WSJ, 1/11/98, p.R18)

1745 May 11, French forces
defeated an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy.
(HN, 5/11/98)

1745 Oct 11, The Leyden jar,
capable of storing static electricity, was invented by German cleric
Ewald Georg von Kleist. Also about this time Dutch scientist Pieter
van Musschenbroek of Leiden (Leyden) independently came up with the
same idea.
(ON, 2/12,
p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyden_jar)

c1747 Man-made dykes were built
in the Oderbruch region north of Frankfurt an der Oder around land
that was drained and cleared for farming. The dykes faced disaster
in 1997 during heavy July rains.
(SFC, 7/26/97, p.A12)

1748 In Germany an oil painting
by Elias Gottlob Haussmann showed bewigged composer Johann Sebastian
Bach aged around 60 holding the score to one of his canons.
(AFP, 6/12/15)

1749 Aug 28, German author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d.1832), "the master spirit of the
German people," was born at Frankfurt am Main. Scientist,
philosopher, novelist, and critic as well as lyric, dramatic, and
epic poet, he was the leading figure of his age after Napoleon. He
had early pretensions in the visual arts and was an avid draftsman
into old age. He studied law in Leipzig and died in Weimar. He is
best known for "Faust." "True excellence is rarely found, even more
rarely is it cherished."
(V.D.-H.K.p.239)(AP, 8/28/97)(WSJ, 7/16/98,
p.A16)(HN, 8/28/98)(AP, 9/4/98) (SFEC, 6/20/99, p.T6)

1759 Jul 23, Russians under
Saltikov defeated Prussians at Kay in eastern Germany, and
one-fourth of Prussian army of 27,000 was lost.
(AP, 7/23/97)

1759 Aug 1, British and
Hanoverian armies defeated the French at the Battle of Minden,
Germany. The marquis de Lafayette was killed by a British cannonball
and his son, Gilbert du Motier (2), inherited the title. In 1777
Lafayette joined the American Continental Army.
(HN, 8/1/98)(ON, 2/09, p.1)

1759-1805 Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller,
poet, dramatist and historian. "A beautiful soul has no other merit
than its own existence." [He was a friend of Goethe.]
(WUD, 1994, p.1277)(AP, 8/2/98)

1760 Nov 3, Following the
Russian capture of Berlin, Frederick II of Prussia defeated the
Austrians at the Battle of Torgau (Germany).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Torgau)

1761 In Germany A.W. Faber
created its first pencil. In 1898 the company got the current name
Faber-Castell. The ‘Castell 9000’ pencil was born in 1905, when
count Alexander von Faber Castell decided to give it a hexagonal
shape to avoid falling when rolling on a desk.
(Econ, 3/3/07,
p.73)(www.designboom.com/contemporary/fabercastell.html)

1762 May 19, Johann Gottlieb
Fichte (d.1814), German philosopher, was born. He developed ethical
idealism out of Immanuel Kant's work.
(HN, 5/19/99)

1763 Frederick the Great took
over Die Konigliche Porzelan-Manufaktur. The royal porcelain factory
was privatized by the state of Berlin in 2006.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.65)

1763-1825 Jean Paul Richter, German author: "A
timid person is frightened before a danger; a coward during the
time; and a courageous person afterward." "Spring makes everything
young again except man."
(AP, 7/3/97)(AP, 3/20/98)

1764 Jan 1, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (8) played for the Royal Family at Versailles, France.
(http://musicandhistory.com/music-and-history-by-the-year/23-1764.html)

1769 Sep 14, Baron Freidrich
von Humboldt (d.1859), German naturalist and explorer who made the
first isothermic and isobaric maps, was born.
(HN, 9/14/98)

1770 Aug 27, The German
philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) was born in
Stuttgart. He wrote "The Science of Logic." Hegel greatly influenced
Karl Marx. His method was to metaphysicize everything, that is, to
discern in concrete reality the working of some Idea or Universal
Mind. Hegel proposed that all change, all progress, is brought about
by the conflict of vast forces. A world-historical figure or nation
or event lays down a challenge. This thesis, as he called it, is
opposed by an antithesis. The conflict between them is resolved,
inevitably, by a synthesis of the two forces on a higher plane of
being.
(V.D.-H.K.p.258)(AP, 8/27/97)(HN, 8/27/98)

1770 Dec 16, Ludwig Von
Beethoven (d.1827), deaf German composer best known for his 9th
Symphony, was born in Bonn. His Sixth Symphony "Pastorale" was in
F-Major. Locks of his hair were cut off after his death and
preserved by a number of collectors.
(CFA, '96, p.60)(WUD, 1994, p.134)(WSJ, 5/29/96,
p.A1,5)(AP, 12/16/97)(SFC, 7/7/98, p.B3)(HN, 12/16/98)

1770 Prussia issued the first
covered bonds. They were paid back from the issuer’s cash flow and
were secured against a pool of assets.
(Econ, 9/13/08, p.80)

1772 Mar 10, Friedrich Von
Schlegel (d.1829) was born. He was a German romantic poet and critic
whose books included "Philosophy of History" and "History of
Literature." "A historian is a prophet in reverse."
(AP, 5/25/97)(HN, 3/10/99)

1772 In Germany the silver and
most of the silver-gilt in the Green Vault of Dresden was melted
down and made into coin.
(Econ, 9/16/06, p.95)

1774 Kaspar David Friedrich
(d.1840), German painter and master of numinous landscapes, was
born. He painted "Wreck of the Hope."
(AAP, 1964)(WSJ, 7/16/98, p.A16)

1774 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(1749-1832) published his novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther." In
1887 French composer Jules Massenet (1842-1912) turned into an
opera. The opera premiered at the Imperial Theatre Hofoper in Vienna
on February 16, 1892.
(SFC, 9/17/10,
p.F1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werther)

1776-1781 It is estimated that 30,000 Hessian
soldiers fought for the British during the American Revolution.
After Russia refused to provide troops for the war, the German
states of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, Waldeck,
Anspach-Bayreuth and Anhalt-Zerbst supplied mercenary soldiers,
collectively referred to as Hessians. Seven thousand Hessians died
in the war and another 5,000 deserted and settled in America. The
British paid the German rulers for each soldier sent to North
America and an additional sum for each killed.
(HNQ, 3/31/99)

1777 Sep 16, Nathan Rothschild
(d.1836), banker, was born in Frankfurt. He was the son of Mayer
Rothschild (1744-1812), who rose from the Frankfurt ghetto to become
the banker to Prince William of Prussia. Nathan worked in London as
a banker and invested Prussian money in the Napoleonic Wars and
smuggled it to Wellington in Spain. He was the first to hear news
from Waterloo and sold stock to convince other investors that the
British had lost. His agents bought the stock at low prices. His 4
brothers established banks in Vienna, Naples and Paris.
(WSJ, 1/11/98,
p.R18)(www.rothschildarchive.org/ib/?doc=/ib/articles/BW3bNathan)

1777-1810 Phillip Otto Runge, German artist.
(WSJ, 7/16/98, p.A16)

1777-1811 Heinrich von Kleist, writer. His work
included "St. Cecilia or The Power of Music."
(SFC, 2/19/96, p.E1)

1779 The play "Nathan der
Weise" (Nathan the Wise) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German
playwright, was 1st produced. It is set in Jerusalem in 1193 and
shows a humane Jewish merchant, Nathan, spreading benevolence and
reconciliation among local Muslims and Christians. Nathan tells
Saladin a story: "My council is: Accept the matter wholly as it
stands …Let each one believe his ring to be the true one."
(WSJ, 11/24/95, p.A-6)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R55)(WSJ,
1/4/02, p.A11)

1780-1831 Karl von Clausewitz, German military
officer and author of books on military science. In his 1st book "On
War" he wrote: "War is an act of force to compel our enemy to do our
will."
(WUD, 1994, p.273)(WSJ, 4/1/99, p.A10)

1791 In Berlin, Germany, the
Brandenburg Gate was completed. It stood 66 feet tall and 213 feet
wide, and was topped by the copper Quadriga, a sculpture of a
goddess riding into the city aboard a chariot. It was restored in
2002.
(AP, 10/2/02)

1797 Feb 15, Henry Steinway
(d.1871), German-American piano maker, was born in Germany as
Heinrich Steinweg. He move to the US in 1851. The name was
anglicized in 1864.
(WSJ, 7/15/06, p.P8)(http://tinyurl.com/qn6dy)

1797 Dec 13, Heinrich Heine
(d.1856), German lyric poet, critic, satirist and journalist, was
born. His works included "Trip to the Hartz Mountains" and "Germany,
a Winter Tale." "In these times we fight for ideas, and newspapers
are our fortresses."
(AHD, p.611)(AP, 7/18/97)(HN, 12/13/99)

1798 Oct 12, The play
"Wallenstein's Camp" by Friedrich von Schiller premiered in Weimar.
It was set in 3 parts during the 30 Years War as Gen. Albrecht von
Wallenstein fought for Catholic Emp. Ferdinand II.
(www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_02-06/2005/051-2_Schiller_friends.html)(Econ,
8/25/07, p.78)

c1798 Aloys Hirt, founder of
the Berlin Academy of Art, laid plans for an art museum to present
art in a systematic fashion. This led to the 1830 Altes Museum.
(WSJ, 7/29/98, p.A13)

1799 Feb 24, Georg Christoph
Lichtenberg, German scientist, satirist, and Anglophile, died. He is
remembered for his posthumously published notebooks, which he
himself called Sudelbücher, a description modelled on the English
bookkeeping term "scrapbooks", and for his discovery of the strange
tree-like patterns now called Lichtenberg figures. “It is almost
impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without
singeing somebody's beard."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Christoph_Lichtenberg)(http://tinyurl.com/qzlpuna)

1799 Apr 20, Friedrich
Schiller's "Wallensteins Tod," the third part of his Wallenstein
trilogy, premiered in Weimar.
(MC,
4/20/02)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallenstein_%28play%29)

1799-1804 Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859),
German explorer, and Aime Bonpland, botanist, led an expedition to
South America. They collected over 60,000 plants.
(http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa020298.htm)(CW, Spring
‘99, p.49)

1800 Oct 26, Helmuth Karl von
Moltke, Prussian Field Marshal and Count, was born. His
reorganization of the Prussian Army led to military victories that
allowed the unification of Germany. His father was a German officer
serving in the Danish army. His greatest innovation was the creation
of a fighting force that could mobilize quickly and strike when and
where it chose. He was one of the first generals to grasp the
importance of railroads in moving troops. In 1995 Otto Friedrich
authored a biography of the Moltke family line from Bismarck to
Hitler: “Blood and Iron: From Bismarck to Hitler the von Moltke
Family’s Impact on German History."
(WSJ, 11/7/95, p.A-20)(HN, 10/26/98)

1801 Nov 3, Karl Baedeker,
German publisher, was born. He became well known for travel guides.
His 1835 "Travel on the Rhine" is widely considered as the 1st
modern guidebook.
(HN, 11/3/00)(SSFC, 11/30/02, p.C3)

1801 Friedrich von Hardenberg
(b.1772), German poet (Novalis), died. He was later known as the
father of German romantic nationalism.
(WUD, 1994 p.645)(WSJ, 4/8/03, p.D4)

1804 Immanuel Kant (b. 1724),
German philosopher, died. His "categorical imperative" helped to
ascertain the proper course under any circumstances: "Act only on
the maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should
become a universal law." Kant had described how the sun and planets
might have condensed from a primordial cloud with no divine
intervention.
(V.D.-H.K.p.40)(HN, 4/22/98)(SFC, 4/25/01,
p.E5)(SFC, 6/17/02, p.A6)

1810 Oct 12, Bavarian Crown
Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to
Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. In honor of the
wedding a horse race took place at the Theresienwiese (the Theresien
meadow). The decision to repeat the horse races in subsequent years
gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.
(www.ofest.com/history.html)

1810 A German folk tale
appeared in “Gespensterbuch" (The Book of Ghosts), which formed the
basis for the 1821 opera “Der Freishutz" (The Free-Shooter) by Carl
Maria von Weber. In 1991 American writer William Burroughs wrote
“The Black Rider," an English version of the story with music by Tom
Waits.
(SFC, 8/31/04, p.E7)
1810 Friedrich Wilhelm III
began the construction of Museum Island in Berlin.
(WSJ, 2/1/96, p.A-16)
1810 Wilhelm von Humboldt
founded the Univ. of Berlin, later Humboldt University, to give
students a broad humanist education.
(WSJ, 2/26/00, p.A8)(Econ, 12/13/14, p.56)

1810 Construction of the first
brew kettle at the Hallerbräustadel, the "factory," as it is called
in the books, that Gabriel Sedlmayr leased in 1808 at the west end
of the Neuhauserstraße. The kettle is only used to refine vinegar.
Today at this site stands the Hertie department store.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1811 Apr 25, The
state ordered "Biersatzregulativ" (beer composition regulation)
passed and had far-reaching consequences for brewers. It regulated
the profits of the brewers, and set standards for watered-down or
unhealthy beer. In addition, beer prices were set as well as how
much beer could be produced from a specific amount of malt. Though
the "Regulativ" set many standards, it actually brought about
greater industrial freedom than had earlier bans and rules.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1811 The construction of a
grain elevator with threshers and an enlargement of the kilns led to
expanded capacity, just four years after the take over of the
Spaten-Brauerei by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1813 Nov 2, Treaty of
Fulda. After the Battle of Leipzig (Oct 16-19) King Frederick I of
Württemberg (1754-1816) deserted Napoleon’s waning fortunes. By a
treaty made with Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich
(1773-1858) at Fulda, Hessen, Germany he secured the confirmation of
his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory, while
his troops marched with those of the allies into France.
(DoW, 1999, p.325)

1815 Mar 5, Friedrich (Franz)
Anton Mesmer (b.1734), German physician who pioneered the medical
field of hypnotic therapy, died in obscurity in Meersburg, Swabia
(now Germany). He was suspected of having seduced a pretty pianist
while attempting to cure her blindness through hypnosis.
(HN, 5/23/98)(WSJ, 5/30/00, p.A24)(MC, 3/5/02)

1815 Apr 1, Otto von Bismarck
(d.1898), German statesman, was born. He founded the German Empire
and was the chancellor of Germany, the Second Reich, from 1866-90
[1971-1990]. The Iron Chancellor created the modern social insurance
state when he introduced transfer payments to appease worker
insecurities. "History is simply a piece of paper covered with
print; the main thing is still to make history, not to write it."
"Every man had his basic worth - from which must be subtracted his
vanity.
(WUD, 1994, p.151)(AP, 11/6/97)(WSJ, 4/24/98,
p.A14)(SFEC, 3/7/99, Z1 p.8)(HN, 4/1/99)

1815 Adolph Menzel (d.1905),
German painter, was born. He combined elements of many styles and
was considered the greatest artist in Germany at the time and was
Prussia’s foremost historical artist. He was considered Germany’s
French Impressionist.
(WSJ, 10/8/96, p.A20)(WSJ, 7/16/98, p.A16)

1815 Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder
applied with the authorities to brew a "white barley beer." Any
approval of the application is unknown.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1815 The first German
Burschenschaft (fraternity) was founded in Jena, Germany.
(Econ, 2/11/06, Survey p.15)

1816 Caspar David Friedrich,
German romantic artist, painted "View of a Harbor." It was soon
purchased by Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia as a birthday present
for the crown prince.
(WSJ, 1/3/97, p.A7)

1816 Rain, hail and frost
during the summer caused starvation in all of Europe. Because of
this, Gabriel Sedlmayr baked bread from dough using the spent grains
of his mash tun. The bread is somewhat dark, but smells and tastes
good.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1816 In Germany Johann Maelzel
patented the metronome a couple of years after it was drawn up by
Dutch inventor Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel.
(SFC, 1/29/00, p.E3)

1817 Baron Karl de Drais de
Sauerbrun of Germany invented the draisienne, the first 2-wheeled,
rider-propelled machine and exhibited it in Paris in 1818. The
vehicle came to be known as the “velocipede," a 2-wheeled running
machine without pedals.
(www.cycle-info.bpaj.or.jp/english/learn/bcc02.html)(Wired, 2/98,
p.172)(Econ, 2/5/05, p.77)

1819 Caspar David Friedrich
(1774-1840), German Romantic painter, created his "Two Men
Contemplating the Moon." He painted it as part of a series of 3
(1824,1830). The 3rd had the same title, the 2nd was titled "Man and
Woman Contemplating the Moon."
(WSJ, 9/21/01, p.W2)(WSJ, 10/17/01, p.A24)

1819 The brew house of the
Spaten-Brauerei (brewery) in the Neuhausergasser 4 is expanded and
renovated by Gabriel Sedlmayr. The same year, the disagreement
between the city of Munich and its breweries (Spaten included) over
payment for deliveries to French troops in 1800/1801 is finally
resolved.
(http://spatenusa.com/timeline.html)

1819-1898 Theodor Fontane, German author:
"Happiness, it seems to me, consists of two things: first, in being
where you belong, and second -- and best -- in comfortably going
through everyday life, that is, having had a good night's sleep and
not being hurt by new shoes." His work included practical hiking
guides to Brandenburg, poetry theater criticism, foreign
correspondence and novels. His novels included "Effi Briest" and
"L’Adultera." In 1998 a biography by Gordon Craig was scheduled to
be published.
(AP, 8/7/97)(WSJ, 12/2/98, p.A20)